PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs Debuts Digital Series on Misinformation

Arlington, Va.—Student Reporting Labs (SRL), a youth media initiative of the PBS NewsHour, today launched Moments of Truth, an all-new digital series exploring misinformation and showcasing intergenerational conversations about facts, information, and truth.

The first two episodes showcase young people talking with older generations about their journeys through conspiracy theories and back, while the third episode delves into the pervasive misinformation that seeps into ethnic minority communities.

“With misinformation proliferating at such a fast rate, and with such profound consequences, it’s important to practice strategies to confront it, especially with people you care about. This series models conversations with respect and curiosity to help young people feel empowered to engage with older generations,” said Leah Clapman, SRL executive director.

Episode one, ‘Why I thought the MR vaccine would give my child autism’ features a conversation between a mother and child about the mother’s fear of a common pediatric vaccine.

Episode two, ‘How the flat Earth theory pushed me over the edge’ explores how one woman deconstructed her own false beliefs. 

Episode three, ‘This organization was created to fact check misinformation in the Vietnamese American community,’ covers misinformation in ethnic, minority communities and how to combat the falsehoods that ripple across them.

Part of the Google News Initiative, SRL will produce more episodes in the coming months. If you or someone you know is interested in participating, please fill out our form.

About PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs

Now in over 180 middle and high schools, Student Reporting Labs (SRL) is a national youth journalism program and public media initiative that trains teenagers across the country to produce stories that highlight the achievements, challenges and reality of today’s youth. SRL creates transformative educational experiences through video journalism that inspire students to find their voice and engage in their communities. Since 2009, SRL youth media producers have helped students place over 100 video news reports on PBS NewsHour’s nightly broadcast and more on local media outlets. Visit www.studentreportinglabs.org and StoryMaker to learn more.

About the Google News Initiative

The Google News Initiative is Google’s effort to partner with news publishers around the world to build a long-lasting, diverse and innovative news ecosystem. We do this by offering training, products and funding to journalists and newsrooms to help strengthen their work in the digital age. Since 2018, we have supported more than 7,000 news partners in over 120 countries and territories around the world, and that continues to grow. We’ve provided training for over 550,000 journalists on skills including digital verification, data visualization, and machine learning through in-person training. And we work to bring together industry leaders around the world, cultivating a diverse news community to spur innovation and tackle pressing issues like media literacy and misinformation.

About PBS NewsHour

PBS NewsHour is a production of NewsHour Productions LLC, a wholly-owned non-profit subsidiary of WETA Washington, DC. Major corporate funding is provided by BNSF, Consumer Cellular, Fidelity, Johnson & Johnson, and Raymond James, with additional support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Ford Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Kendeda Fund, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the National Science Foundation, The Pew Charitable Trusts, the Skoll Foundation, the Walton Family Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Friends of the NewsHour and others. More information on PBS NewsHour is available at www.pbs.org/newshour. You can watch and find NewsHour on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. NewsHour Productions also produces PBS News Weekend and Washington Week.

About WETA

Founded in 1961, the Washington Educational Telecommunications Association (WETA) is the second largest producing-station of new content for public television in the United States, with productions and co-productions including works by filmmaker Ken Burns and Florentine Films, such as The U.S. and the Holocaust; and by scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr., including the series Finding Your Roots and the forthcoming documentary Making Black America: Through the Grapevine; as well as PBS NewsHour, PBS Washington Week and The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize. More information on WETA and its programs and services is available at www.weta.org. 

Media Contacts:

Nick Massella, PBS NewsHour Executive Director, Communications, nmassella@newshour.org 

Marcus Markle, SRL Senior Communications Manager, mmarkle@newshour.org